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Category Archives: Butterflies

Common North American Butterflies mainly encountered throughout Houston Texas

Unidentified Butterfly?

We saw something yesterday in one of our Butterfly enclosures and I have no idea what it is.  I’m too lazy to go grab my Butterfly books tonight, so if someone happens to read this and can readily identify what this is, I would appreciate it.

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Butterflies Love The Butterfly Bush

Our Butterfly Bush is really starting to bloom now with big purple flowers.  That has attracted both the Hummingbirds (Ruby Throat) and the Butterflies.  This one particular Monarch Butterfly was feasting up a storm on this plant.  I think it was also on a bit of a sugar high as this crazy Butterfly was chasing…

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We Still Have Lots Of Monarch Butterflies And Caterpillars

This year is the first year that I haven’t had to buy Milkweed.  It’s not because we haven’t had lots of Monarch Butterflies hanging around, rather it’s because after so many years of buying Milkweed and letting it naturally seed, we have quite a few plants. Today I saw two Monarch Butterflies that were feeding…

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Gulf Fritillary On Yellow Flower

Last year the Gulf Fritillary butterflies seemed to be hit especially hard with the drought.  Fortunately this year we have seen quite a few.  I’ve also spotted several Gulf Fritillary caterpillars and chrysalises. The picture below is from my wildflower garden.  I’ve essentially just let it grow wild this year and it has done fantastic. …

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First Female Monarch From Mexico 2012

I saw our first female Monarch from Mexico today!  She was laying eggs on our Family Jewels Milkweed (Asclepias physocarpa).  Overall, I’d say she looked pretty good considering she’s likely been alive for nearly 8 months and has traveled thousands of miles. When I see these Monarchs from Mexico I have mixed feelings.  On the…

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First Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly Of 2012 Laying Eggs

It must be getting close to Spring as I’m starting to see some Butterflies. For the first time this year, I saw an Eastern Black Swallowtail and she was laying eggs on the Fennel.  We never cook with Fennel, we just let it grow however it wants in our garden.  The result is that we…

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Monarch Butterfly Getting Nectar On Maple Tree

We’re still raising Monarch Butterflies despite it being late January.  Of course, this is Houston and today’s temperature was 78 degrees so it’s not like we’re having a lot of cold weather at the moment. I had forgotten how our Maple Tree is a source of nectar for Butterflies and Honeybees until I saw this…

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Butterfly Movie Review: Metamorphosis: The Beauty And Design Of Butterflies

I just bought (and watched) a new movie called Metamorphosis: The Beauty And Design Of Butterflies and thought I’d provide a little review. This is one of the best Butterfly movies I have seen.  The incredible detail in the video is fantastic!  It is also very educational.  One of the main reasons I purchased this…

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Twenty Monarch Butterflies Released In Last Two Days

I have a couple of exciting news items to share (at least they’re exciting to me).  I made an impulse buy over the holidays and bought a new Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 II lens.  From most of the reviews I’ve read on the web, this lens gets rave reviews.  Since I sold my 100-400mm lens…

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How To Glue A Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis To Protect From Weather And Predators

Hopefully some folks will find this post useful in their Butterfly Gardening. Below is a video that I recorded today of Leecy gluing some Monarch Chrysalises to a piece of cardboard.  We tend to do this during Winter months when we still have Caterpillars and Chrysalises and want to protect them from inclement weather (rainy,…

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Have You Ever Seen This Many Monarch Butterfly Chrysalises?

I know I haven’t posted in a while, I’m just taking it easy.  It’s also been a little more challenging to take photos since it gets dark so early. So on to this post.  I’m guessing that most folks don’t think about Butterflies two days before Christmas, but I wanted to share our Monarch Butterfly…

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Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge: Skillern Tract

I did take my trip to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.  Specifically I went to the Skillern Tract part of the refuge.  I can’t recommend this part of the wildlife refuge highly enough.  It is awesome!  From what I read, it’s still relatively unknown among birders, but that probably won’t last for long.  I actually went…

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A Single Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

I’ve mentioned previously that we really haven’t seen many Gulf Fritillary Butterflies this year.  I still think the drought has something to do with that.  However, while I was out photographing the Monarch Butterflies, I noticed a smaller Butterfly chasing the Monarchs.  It turns out it was a Gulf Fritillary. I’m assuming this one is…

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Monarch Butterflies And Caterpillars Around The Yard

We still have lots of Monarch Butterflies flying around the yard and even more Monarch Caterpillars.  Most of the Butterflies look very clean, not like they have been migrating for several hundred miles so I’m assuming these are new releases. What I’ve also noticed is that these Butterflies are mating, and in the case of…

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More Monarchs Butterflies Appear, Yet Are Really Worn And Torn

We’ve had around 7-8 “new” Monarch Butterflies arrive withing the last two days, but they definitely weren’t new.  These poor Butterflies were as torn and worn as I’ve ever seen in Monarchs. Take a look at the male Monarch in the picture below.  He has that torn upper wing and had difficulty flying from flower…

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